The national awards announced Wednesday by the Radio Television Digital News Foundation recognize outstanding work produced by radio, television and online news organizations around the world. UWM was the only university represented among winners in the small and large market television contest.

There were more than 4,000 entries in the overall competition, setting an all-time record for entries, according to the organization that oversees the awards.

A description of Panther Vision's compilation of its coverage says university officials ignored the student-produced newscast's investigation and follow-up stories; the chancellor declined repeated requests for interviews; lawmakers didn’t want to get involved; and members of the UW System’s Board of Regents declined interview requests.

"But our student reporters persevered, and in December the university issued a statement saying they will form a working group to examine the university's preparedness for an active shooter situation," the coverage description said.

The Panther Vision investigation revealed holes in UWM's preparedness for an active shooter situation; no lockdown drills; no ability for police to make a simultaneous announcement in all buildings; an opt-in rather than an opt-out text alert system; and classroom doors that have to be locked from the outside.

UWM PantherVision is a weekly, student-produced newscast that airs to 300,000 cable households in southeastern Wisconsin and 180,000 digita-on-demand cable subscribers from the Illinois border to upper Michigan.

PantherVision is the product of two classes at UWM and one class at Milwaukee Area Technical College. Students in UWM’s television news reporting class serve as reporters, photojournalists, editors and anchors, while students in UWM’S television news management class serve as the managers and producers. Students in the Video and Television Production program at MATC handle all studio and control room duties.

About Karen Herzog

Karen Herzog covers higher education. She also has covered public health and was part of a national award-winning team that took on Milwaukee's infant mortality crisis.